Of Plants and Pickles
by Lizwontcry
Summary: Grissom's gift to Sara reminds her that it's been a long journey for the two of them, but it's far from being over.


**A/N - I started this after the Two Mrs. Grissoms but wasn't inspired enough to finish it until last week's episode. Say what you want about this show but at least it gives us continuity sometimes, right? Also, I miss these two dearly and needed to put this out in the universe. Come back to us, Grissom!**

**Anyway, thank you for reading and feedback is always appreciated.**

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><p><em>February, 2002<em>

Paperwork. There was always some kind of paperwork to be done. Gil Grissom was the supervisor, and that meant doing paperwork more than actually solving crimes. This is something he wished Brass would have told him before handing him the position, but then again, it wasn't like either of them had much choice in the exchange anyway. He let himself think about Holly Gribbs for one passing moment. The guilt still lived deep down in his gut, like the worst case of heartburn ever, and he knew it always would.

But his thoughts eventually returned to the other brunette woman who was frequently invading his thoughts. They'd been working together for less than two years and already she was thinking of moving on. He didn't particularly blame her. When Grissom called Sara to come to Vegas, she agreed so quickly it almost made his head spin.

"Don't you need to take some time to think about it?" He asked her when she agreed to come to Vegas before even hearing the reason why.

"No. You need me, I'm there," Sara said, sounding so innocent and young and enthusiastic. A part of him knew she was agreeing to something else entirely; something he must have put out there at some point but wasn't ready to commit to. This made him uneasy, but he wanted to see her again, too. He wanted Sara Sidle in his life. Looking back on it, he knew he asked her to come for the wrong reasons. But now she was thinking about leaving and he felt almost desperate to make her stay. Thinking about running the lab without Sara's passion and work ethic and energy...it would destroy the dynamic, and they didn't need that right now. When he really let himself admit it, it was clear he didn't _want _that right now.

Catherine told him he needed to lift his head from the microscope. And sometimes, before he drifted off to sleep or when he was drinking his required coffee before shift or when he was stopped at a red light, Grissom would think about Sara. He'd think about courting her. Did people even say "courting" anymore? Sara deserved to be courted. He'd bring her flowers. He'd open the car door for her. He'd take her to restaurants that had plenty of vegetarian options. And if she allowed him, he'd kiss her gently and softly before she unlocked her door and the night ended.

Of course he never took steps to make this happen, and even when he did let himself think about the chance that it could, Grissom would focus his thoughts on something else. Beetles. The book he always wanted to write on European serial killers. The rain forests. Anything to get his thoughts off Sara. In his eyes, she was untouchable. He was older; he'd only make her life more complicated. Yes, he did notice that sometimes her eyes lingered on him for a few seconds too long. He wasn't blind. But that didn't mean he had the right to start anything. Sooner or later she'd realize that he wasn't worth it. A part of him dreaded the day the spark left her eyes, but it was better for both of them that way. She'd find someone better suited for her; someone closer to her age, and he could continue his devotion to his work.

His telephone rang, nudging him out of his thoughts. Grateful for a distraction, he answered quickly. "Grissom."

"Griss. Hi. It's Sara."

"Oh, Sara. Hello."

There was an awkward pause while they both thought about what to say next. Since that fateful call nearly two years ago, they hadn't spoken on the phone about anything non work-related at all.

"I...I got the plant. The plant you sent me? I assume it was from you, it said 'From Grissom', after all."

"Oh, yes. Well, good."

"This African Violet is beautiful. It's my favorite. Thank you."

"Well, you mentioned at the conference that it was your favorite, so...I thought you might like it."

Sara chuckled. He enjoyed the sound. He enjoyed the visual a lot more, though. He didn't find a lot of things "cute" anymore, but Sara Sidle laughing definitely qualified.

"Grissom?"

He wished he could tell her to just call him Gil, like Catherine does, but it didn't seem like either of them were ready for that next step. Which seemed like it could define their relationship up to that point, really.

"Yes, Sara?"

"Why did you send me a plant?"

_Because I have so many things I want to tell you but I can't. Because I've never wanted anything more than I want to kiss you. Because I'm sorry about not respecting you and I hope you don't leave the lab-or me._

"Because...you like vegetation," he said, feeling dumb. "And because we need you at the lab. You're one of the best CSIs I've got, Sara. You had every right to feel the way you did, but I hope you don't leave. We need you." _I need you._

Sara sighed. He knew she wanted him to say something else. She probably knew he wanted to say something else. But she didn't call him on it, and he was grateful. Maybe someday they'd laugh about this over a beer. But for now, this was all he had to give.

"Okay, Griss, I get it. Thank you for the plant. I'll see you tomorrow. But please...don't make me clean up any more of your meat experiments, okay?"

"I won't. I'll make Nick do it."

Sara chuckled again. "He'll love that. Okay. See you later, Griss." And just like that, she was gone.

In a different world, he would have said what he meant. But he didn't have the courage, and now things would be the same as they always were. It was better for everyone that way.

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><p><em>August, 2005<em>

The two of them didn't speak for a few minutes. They needed to catch their breath. And absorb what the hell just happened.

"That was..." Sara was eventually able to say. "That was worth waiting for, Griss."

"The evidence does support that, yes," he said, glancing over the sheets at her, taking in the glow of her naked skin, the crooked smile on her face, the utter happiness in her eyes._ I made her feel that way._

Ever since the night of Nick's abduction three months ago, when they spent almost every second together for 24 hours while they waited for the doctors to fix him, they'd been doing something they both had almost given up on completely-dating. Grissom finally,_ finally_ realized that life was short, and why keep delaying what they both somehow knew was inevitable. So he asked her out as soon as the doctor told them Nick would be okay-physically, at least.

He'd never forget it. She was pouring her last cup of coffee before they all headed home to sleep off the traumatic night. Sara looked so relieved that her friend and colleague had survived the latest CSI tragedy. When Grissom approached her, she looked hopeful, almost. And he hadn't seen that in her in years, and it made him hopeful, too. And happy.

"Sara...would you like to have dinner with me?" He said before realizing those were almost her exact words two years ago, and he'd said no. But they were both in extremely different places back then. Sara had been through a lot since that night; they all had.

Sara smiled. She took a sip of coffee before answering. It was the longest 15 seconds of his life.

"Sure. I think I would really like that."

At first, their dinner (at a vegetarian restaurant picked by Sara, of course) was filled with an awkward tension that came from all the missed opportunities and things left unsaid over the years. But eventually they figured it out-it might have been that first amazing kiss that did the trick. And three months later, they (finally) took it to Grissom's bedroom where it culminated in a symphony of moans and feelings neither of them had experienced in a long, long time.

Now, as they lay in bed for the first time together, Sara burst into laughter. Although Grissom enjoyed the sound, he found it just a little bit inappropriate for the activity they'd just engaged in.

"I'm afraid to ask..." Grissom said, turning to face her.

She laughed again. "I was just thinking about the plant."

"What plant would that be?"

She lightly pinched his arm. "'From Grissom'? The plant you sent so I'd stay at the lab?"

"Oh. Yes. That plant. I think I blocked it out."

"It's just so funny that you thought a plant would make me stay. Of all things. And yet, it did."

"I'm glad." The plant hadn't been his best idea ever, but it worked. And now she was in his bed, and somehow it was all worth it.

"Things were so odd back then, weren't they? I was so desperate for approval and you were always so stoic. I guess I figured you sending me a plant was your way of apologizing. It was sweet, Griss. You know, I still have a few leaves from it. I put them in a ziplock bag and buried it in a drawer in my kitchen. How pathetic is that?"

"Not that pathetic. I...never mind."

"Oh, come on, what? You know I can't let you get away with that."

"I still have the pickle," he admitted, feeling like an idiot.

Sara chuckled. "The pickle. That we electrocuted."

"Yes. I also put it in a ziplock bag. It's in my mini-refrigerator in the garage."

Before Grissom could open his mouth to protest, Sara pulled on her discarded shirt and practically skipped out of bed. Grissom sighed, put his robe on and followed her. When he found her in the garage, she was already in the refrigerator. When she found the bag, she laughed. A sexy, throaty laugh that he'd never heard before. He hoped that was a laugh just reserved for him.

"I would have never guessed," she said finally.

"Sara, just because I was an emotionally stunted idiot back then, it doesn't mean I was devoid of emotions. I sent you the plant because I thought you'd appreciate it enough to stay. And I wanted you to stay but I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. There were so many reasons why I didn't..."

Sara put the pickle back in the refrigerator and came over to embrace him.

"I know, Gil. We don't have to talk about it. It doesn't matter anymore. What matters is right now. What just happened in your bed. Not the pickle in the refrigerator or the leaves in my kitchen drawer."

She kissed him, and it was still such a crazy, desperate rush of emotions to feel her lips on his, and he let himself go and enjoy it, and that was so unlike him, but it was Sara and it was always going to be Sara and it had always been Sara.

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><p><em>March, 2012<em>

Marriage was hard, Sara would be the first to admit that. She and Grissom were determined to make it work, even if they did live in opposite corners of the world. He was working on his book about the serial killers of Europe, and she wanted no part of that-Sara had enough experience with the serial killers of Vegas. And the lab needed her, and she needed some kind of routine or she'd get back to that dark place that made her run from Vegas in the first place.

She missed him. All the time. It never got any easier to wake up alone. Hank was a good boy and all, but he drooled and took up almost half the bed. It seemed just a little bit unfair-they had such a short time together before they went their separate ways. The marriage itself had been spontaneous-it was in Costa Rica the day after he quit his job and roamed the earth to find her. They found an ordained minister in the camp and it was just that easy. It was impulsive and spur of the moment and that wasn't like them at all. But they _needed _to do it. Both of them had spent too long chasing each other and now it was time to be caught. They didn't think about the next step or what was logical or practical; they just wanted to be married. To know that the chase was worth it. To know that every single wasted moment was now moot.

Their living arrangement wasn't a permanent situation. In a year or two he'd finish the book and they'd decide where they were going to settle down together. But meanwhile, she missed him so much that sometimes she could barely even breathe. Nick and Greg tried to take her out as much as possible to distract her from the constant longing for the man she loved, and that helped. From time to time, she and Catherine would get together, have a beer and talk about their love lives. Now Catherine was gone and Sara missed her drinking buddy, but she was glad Catherine got out while she could. She deserved to find something that fulfilled her; that didn't have her waking up in the middle of the day, terrified about the future; worried about her daughter.

To further distract herself, Sara was working on her own book, but this one was fiction. Kind of. It was about a girl and her mother. Sara's story with her own mother was complicated and sad but they were getting there. One step at a time.

After closing the case of the missing groom in the Alice of Wonderland wedding (and almost losing Hodges in the process), Sara wandered down the halls of the lab, not excited to go home to an empty house (Hank was at the sitter's) and eat leftover Chinese food. Again. It wasn't like she was unhappy...Sara knew what "unhappy" felt like. Her life had never been easy. But now she had a somewhat stable job (so it was full of dead people, but at least she was getting answers for them) and she had good friends and she was repairing her relationship with her mother and she was married to Gilbert Grissom. Her life changed the day she met him at that lecture so long ago. For her, it was absolutely love at first sight. She moved to Vegas for him. And it took a while, but he was finally able to return that love. Life was good. Not in her ideal way, but it was good.

But even as content as Sara was, it was still a long day, she still missed her husband, and she still was dreading going home to nothing. So when she rounded that corner and she saw the plant, and when she saw those all-too familiar words, _From Grissom,_ she grinned. He was such an adorable idiot. Yes, she did like vegetation, and especially when it came from him.

Sara took the plant to her tiny excuse for an office and took out her phone to call her silly husband. He answered on the first ring.

"Do you still like vegetation?" He asked, a smile in his voice.

"I do. Thank you for the plant, I needed it today. Things were crazy around here."

"What else is new? I wish I was there to help..."

Sara laughed. "No, you don't. We don't need you, anyway. Nick has totally replaced you as the resident entomologist. You should see him. He's so enthusiastic about it. He's a mini-you."

"Ah, I taught him well. Glad to see I made an impact."

"You made an impact on all of us, honey. You know that."

"And all of you made an impact on me." He was quiet for a moment and she knew he was contemplating his former Vegas life. It sucked that it was still her life. Someday they'd fix that. Someday they'd be together again. Sometimes just hearing his voice made her want to walk out on everything and find him. Wherever he was, find him. But she knew from experience that running would never make her happy, and someday he'd find his way back to her. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

"I miss you," she said softly.

"I miss you more," Grissom said. "I'll see you next month. Four whole days in Paris. I know it's not enough..."

"We'll make it enough," she said. And they would, because they always did. Through everything they'd endured together, they always made it enough. He was there when she needed a new direction in her life. When she almost descended into alcoholism. When she needed a shoulder to cry on when the pressure got to be too much. And then he became more, and although Sara didn't believe in soul mates, she did believe they were meant to be together. Sara knew Grissom's quirks better than anyone and she loved him for them. Of course, she could do without the random cockroach races and the meat experiments, but those things were what made Grissom...Grissom. Even if he did send her plants when occasionally she just wanted some damn roses, she loved him with all her heart anyway.

Grissom asked about Hank and she told him about the idiot dog's latest muddy adventures. She told him about the case of the day and how she was getting along with Russell and Finlay and Hodges and Morgan's pretend date (news traveled fast around the lab).

When they'd finally ran out of things to talk about, Grissom said, "I love you, you know. I'll see you soon. Hang in there."

Sara smiled. "Love you, too. I'll tell Hank his daddy says hello."

Grissom sighed and she knew he wanted to be at home instead of France. But this was their life now, and they made the best of it.

10 years ago, 'From Grissom' meant something entirely different than it did today. Back then, it meant all the things he couldn't say, and all the things she wasn't ready to hear. But now it was a promise. A promise of a life they still had yet to live. A promise of a journey that had only just begun.

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><p><strong>AN - These two will forever be my OTP, even if Grissom never comes back from wherever the hell he is. I heart them.**


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